Some five years ago the Kronos Quartet was invited to perform a concert in San

Kronos Quartet (Photo Credit: Zoran Orlic)

Francisco. There was nothing unusual in that request, since the Kronos is based in the city by the bay and it’s played there countless times over its quarter century existence. But as founder and first violinist David Harrington started thinking about the concert he was struck by the coincidence of the date. “The concert was scheduled for Sept. 11, 2006, which was the fifth anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers,” he said in a phone interview with Reichel Recommends. “And it was going to be played in Herbst Theater, which as you know was where the United Nations peace charter was signed in the 1940s.”

Because of this coincidence of date and venue, Harrington realized the group needed to play a special program. “It seemed to me that something was demanded of us, something different than other concerts.”

It took Harrington half a year thinking about it almost daily until the concept came to him. “We needed a work that would almost be like our own composition in a way. It needed to be something very personal.” And that’s how Awakening was born. “In many ways Awakening is our own. We used pieces that we knew or that were arranged for the Kronos Quartet, and which would be our own personal statement.” The resulting compilation of pieces into a cohesive whole was intended to restore what Harrington has been quoted as saying “equilibrium in the midst of imbalance.” It’s the Kronos’ tribute to the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center, or as the work’s subtitle calls it, “A Musical Meditation on the Anniversary of 9/11.”

The quartet has played Awakening numerous times on both sides of the Atlantic since its premiere five years ago. And on Tuesday, the group will be in Salt Lake City where they will play it in Kingsbury Hall before taking it to New York for four performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

There are a number of folk songs from around the world in Awakening. These are interspersed between pieces by Terry Riley, Osvaldo Golijov, John Oswald, Aulis Sallinen and others. All of these have been taken from the Kronos Quartet’s vast repertoire. But there are also two selections from Michael Gordon’s The Sad Park that was commissioned by the group and premiered at the first performance in 2006. “Gordon’s work includes a children’s choir (which for this performance will be sung by the International Children’s Choir), and this gives (it) another dimension,” Harrington said. “When you hear it you realize that children’s voices needed to be in this work.”

Audience reaction to Awakening has been overwhelming, Harrington said. “Many people have thought that this is the Kronos Quartet’s best work.” He and his colleagues (John Sherba, second violin; Hank Dutt, viola; Jeffrey Zeigler, cello) wanted to create something that gives pause for reflection and at the same time invigorates the listener. “We need a lot of energy to deal with the world, and we were looking for that kind of musical statement. Hopefully we can energize to create solutions rather than create more problems.”

CONCERT INFO:

Location: Kingsbury Hall

Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13

Tickets: $19.50-$39.50

Phone: 801-581-7100

Web: www.kingtix.com